Protecting National Security Whistleblowers: A New Program

ExposeFacts, a project of the Institute for Public Accuracy, is pleased to announce the launch of a new Whistleblower and Source Protection Program (WHISPeR). WHISPeR makes ExposeFacts the first journalistic organization to house a program dedicated entirely to providing affordable legal representation to whistleblowers and sources. See video announcement.

To head WHISPeR, ExposeFacts has brought in internationally renowned whistleblower and human rights attorney Jesselyn Radack as National Security and Human Rights Director. Ms. Radack represents NSA whistleblowers Edward Snowden, Thomas Drake and William Binney, CIA torture whistleblower John Kiriakou and dozens of anonymous national security and intelligence whistleblowers and sources who have been fired, criminally investigated and punished for shedding light on government and corporate illegalities.

Ms. Radack will be joined by National Security and Human Rights Deputy Director Kathleen McClellan, whose decade-plus of legal experience advocating for civil liberties and human rights reforms provides invaluable expertise and support.

Launched by the Institute for Public Accuracy in 2014, ExposeFacts promotes whistleblowing with a unique blend of independent journalism, methodical organizing and public outreach. Institute for Public Accuracy Executive Director Norman Solomon said:

“The government’s unprecedented crackdown on ‘national security’ whistleblowers using the Espionage Act has created a chilling atmosphere for sources and journalists, giving rise to a larger war on information that the public has a right to know. At ExposeFacts, our message from the beginning has been, ‘whistleblowers welcome.’ With the launch of WHISPeR, headed by the unmatched legal powerhouse Jesselyn Radack, ExposeFacts can now provide affordable top-notch legal representation directly to some whistleblowers and sources.”

WHISPeR National Security and Human Rights Director Jesselyn Radack said: “ExposeFacts is a cutting-edge initiative already recognizing the need for better source protection and making a tremendous positive impact for whistleblowers and investigative journalism. At WHISPeR, we provide journalists, sources, whistleblowers, and hacktivists with critical affordable legal protection, public advocacy, and the latest in encryption technology. It takes courageous individuals to speak truth to power. WHISPeR protects and amplifies their voices.”

Renowned human rights attorney Jesselyn Radack founded the non-profit project "Whistleblower&Source Protection Program (WHISPeR)":https://exposefacts.org/whisper to protect the most controversial and courageous truth-tellers in the world. She repr...

WHISPeR

The Whistleblower and Source Protection Program (WHISPeR) at ExposeFacts provides critical legal support for whistleblowers and media sources in the national security and human rights arena. Our model encompasses affordable legal protection, public advocacy, investigative journalism, and the latest in encryption technology. By protecting whistleblowers, sources, and online activists, we facilitate robust investigative journalism, hold government to account, protect the freedoms of speech, privacy and the press, and foster the most critical component of democratic society: an informed citizenry.

Our SecureDrop implementation for ExposeFacts is overseen by the Freedom of the Press Foundation and is only accessible using the Tor browser. As the Freedom of the Press Foundation notes, no one can guarantee 100 percent security, but this provides a "significantly more secure environment for sources to get information than exists through normal digital channels, but there are always risks." ExposeFacts follows all guidelines as recommended by Freedom of the Press Foundation, and whistleblowers should too; the SecureDrop onion URL should only be accessed with the Tor browser -- and, for added security, be running the Tails operating system. Whistleblowers should not log-in to SecureDrop from a home or office Internet connection, but rather from public wifi, preferably one you do not frequent. Whistleblowers should keep to a minimum interacting with whistleblowing-related websites unless they are using such secure software.

Copy and paste this URL into the Tor Browser to access SecureDrop: http://znig4bc5rlwyj4mz.onion

Please note that ExposeFacts journalists reviewing SecureDrop submissions are not attorneys, and submitting information to ExposeFacts is not a guarantee of legal representation by the Whistleblower & Source Protection Project at ExposeFacts. If you are seeking legal assistance, journalists will forward your request to WHISPeR’s attorneys. If you have an immediate legal deadline, we recommend you speak with a private attorney.